Related Feature

The Redwood City (Calif.) police department is at the forefront of a number of technology trends, and with this recent development may be in uncharted territory.

Related content sponsored by

The hub of the program is the social media room at the agency, where officers on desk duty stand by and wait for callers, who are typically citizens with questions or who want to talk to a police officer.

Calls are fielded from all over the country, and one officer told CNET he recently spoke to an identity theft victim in New York who — as he could see on live video — was wearing pajamas.

The program is a three-month experiment that ends in October. Police Chief J.R. Gamez said he hasn't decided whether it will continue past then, but that he's hopeful.

Police are promoting the feature on Facebook and Twitter to get the word out and drive more potential callers to the website.